Hawk v. Harman
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
IN ERROR. ERROR to the Common Pleas of Dauphin county. Upon the trial of this cause, which was an action by Hawk and wife for slanderous words spoken of Elizabeth the wife of Hawk, dum sola, by Catharine the wife of Harman, (whether sole or covert at the time, the narr did not state) the Common Pleas reserved the point, whether a husband is liable for slanderous words spoken by his wife before marriage.
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IN ERROR. ERROR to the Common Pleas of Dauphin county. Upon the trial of this cause, which was an action by Hawk and wife for slanderous words spoken of Elizabeth the wife of Hawk, dum sola, by Catharine the wife of Harman, (whether sole or covert at the time, the narr did not state) the Common Pleas reserved the point, whether a husband is liable for slanderous words spoken by his wife before marriage. The verdict was for the plaintiff, forty shillings damages, and six cents costs; and the court, after argument upon the reserved point, set aside the verdict, and gave judgment of nonsuit,…
1Opinion of the Court
Tilghman C. J.
The only question in this case is, whether an action will lie against a man and his wife for slanderous words spoken by the wife before marriage. It is a question which does not admit of a doubt. The wife cannot be sued without her husband; and if the action does not lie against both, it follows that a woman by her own act may defeat the plaintiff’s action, a principle not to be endured, unless a positive adjudication on the point could be produced in support of it. But the defendant in error relies on the general position to be found in some books of authority, that a man is…
2Cited by2 opinions
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